Browsing by Author "Koskimies, Matias"

The purpose of this study was to examine how music appears as a part of kindergarten-specific curriculums for preschool education. The aim of this study was to find out what are the methods in which musical activities are planned and described in the curriculums. Another aim was to examine how the discovered mentions compare to the national core curriculum for pre-primary education (2014) and the goals for music it describes as a part of early childhood education. This study was carried out as a qualitative research. The material used for this study was 288 kindergarten-specific curriculums for preschool education found available online on the official Helsinki city’s web page. All of the kindergartens were Finnish speaking. The material was analyzed using content analysis and an analysis matrix was formed based on the themes found in the material. In the kindergarten-specific curriculums for preschool education, music was found in many contexts. 47 of the curriculums did not specify music-related activity. The goals found in the curriculums based on the analysis were music education, supporting language development and multiculturalism, multi-media literacy, supporting cognitive development and increasing overall well-being. Methods for musical activity found in the material were deploying themes and project-based activities, collaboration with external agents and the inclusion of children in planning the activities. Music was seen as a part of everyday life and musical activity was often combined with other subjects such as physical education, drama and visual arts. The kindergarten-specific curriculums described goals that were in line with the national core curriculum (2014) and added more detailed goals based on the needs of each preschool group.